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Breastfeeding booth at market draws complaints

Associated Press, AP 8:33 a.m. EDT August 11, 2014

Crystal Mauras breastfeeds her 2-month-old son, Christopher Rhodes Jr, outside City Hall during a ralley to support breastfeeding in public on Thursday in New York City.(Photo: Andrew Burton, Getty Images)

HEBER CITY, Utah (AP) — Police say they don't understand the fuss over a breastfeeding booth that drew complaints at a farmer's market in Wasatch County.

Meghan Reed, president of the Utah Breastfeeding Coalition, said the organizer of Thursday's Heber Valley Farmer's Market in Heber City complained about the booth and some photos on display there.

The booth allowed mothers to take a break and nurse, Reed said, and she was repeatedly confronted by the market's organizer.

"She came over to our booth three or four times," Reed told KUTV-TV. "They demanded that we take down our photos or we take down our booth."

City Manager Mark Anderson said organizer Suzanne Hansen also contacted him to express concern about the photos.

Police Chief Dave Booth, who investigated the complaint, said the display was appropriate and women can openly breastfeed under state law.

"I saw absolutely no problems with it at all," Booth said. "Utah law is very clear, very specific and protects breastfeeding ... We definitely support anything that we can do to raise any type of awareness or to support any type of breastfeeding."

Hansen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reed said she's surprised about the flap because her group filled out an application describing what the booth was about. She hopes the booth can be part of the farmer's market next year.

"It's World Breastfeeding Week," she told KUTV. "To be harassed while providing breastfeeding support during that week is just kind of ironic."